LADIES:I can't imagine that Rika Kihira isn't the favorite for Worlds. Her 3Axel has been a great competitive weapon this season.

Tursynbaeva was the surprise of the event for me. That move to train w/Tuberidze looks to have been a smart move: she looks like she's competing w/more confidence and it was just palpable to me throughout her FS. And oh yeah, that 4Salchow attempt! If she can hit that and the rest of her programs cleanly in Tokyo, I'd say she's a definite threat for the podium.

Steady and reliable Mai Mihara ends her season on a high note, beating out her training mate and defending 4CC Champ Sakamoto for the podium.

I'd bet money that Bradie Tennell will go back and rework her jumping passes in the FS, in particular scrapping that 3Lutz-3loop altogether for Worlds. It was a commendable attempt for her to push her technical envelope and try to bank on that combo, but it just hasn't materialized. In fact, it has cost her fairly dearly this season. Maybe she's thinking more longer term and knows that she'll eventually need to up the content, so maybe take the hits now??

Not surprised about Mariah Bell or Ting Cui really, but I did think originally that the latter would give the former a run for her money, at least on the technical side, here.

I do hope that CAN chooses Veronik Mallet for that 3rd spot for Worlds.

PAIRS:Oooh, so close for Moore-Towers & Marinaro!! That shaky lift definitely cost them.

The 2019 US Champs did a commendable job holding it together here. I'm confident that they'll get that second US pairs spot for the 2020 Worlds and with a little spiffing up, I'd say that they can flirt w/a possible top 6 finish.

Not so much for the 2016 US Champs. Good chance for redemption after that huge disappointment in Detroit, but major issues on several big trick elements and they just looked tired and listless throughout. They ended up losing to the 2017 US Champs, who themselves lost tons of technical points due to her ongoing sbs jump issues.

After the FS, Sui/Han were interviewed; Han (who speaks pretty good English) said they really weren't ready for this event, but they did the best they could with the limited training they had.

Cain / Leduc looked great, and they probably can hold off the others for the next couple of years. The Knierims have ongoing jump problems, and were hampered at Nationals by his hand injury.

Denney / Frazier did a great job on their FS. Other than the SBS jumps, the rest of that performance was smooth and polished.

Can't say the same for Kayne and O'Shea. They were better when they trained in Florida, but apparently Tarah has injury problems, hence the move to Colorado Springs and the rehab facilities. I have a feeling the bloom is off that rose---Danny obviously has higher aspirations and is becoming frustrated with their lack of progress. He's had ongoing problems with the twist lift, and now the lifts are becoming a new problem. I am not sure the lifts are entirely Danny's fault---Tarah doesn't seem to be assisting by maintaining her positions with her own strength. It may be time for Danny to look for a new partner.

It just seems unfortunate that two of the US's better pairs are hampered by injuries. It may be that past Cain/Leduc, the next big US pair will have to come from the younger ranks: Lu/Mitrofanov, Digerness/Neudecker, Liu / Meyh, Feng / Nyman.

Incidentally, the new team of Liu / Meh won the junior pairs event at the Bavarian Open.

Let's not forget Calalang & Johnson. I think that they've gelled remarkably fast for a pair that's only teamed up for, what, about a year?? Already, I think that they're now better matched than either was with his/her previous partner. Robin Szolkowy is scheduled to join Meno & Sand's coaching team, so it'd be interesting to see if C&J get to work w/him too.

I will say that while I wasn't really all that impressed with Lu & Mitrofanov in their Grand Prix debuts, I thought they definitely came to Detroit to play! Their sbs jumps, in particular, were quite impressive!

But I don't think (and am also hoping) that we've seen the last of both Kayne & O'Shea and Denney & Frazier. Ditto for the Knierims for that matter.